1 online resource (x, 308 pages)

"Heidi Strengell shows that by tapping into the wellsprings of the gothic to reveal contemporary phobias, Stephen King invokes the abnormal and repressed sexuality of the vampire, the hubris of Frankenstein, the split identity of the werewolf, the domestic melodrama of the ghost tale. Drawing on myths and fairy tales, he creates characters who, like the heroic Roland the Gunslinger and the villainous Randall Flagg, may either reinforce or subvert the reader's childlike faith in society. And in a manner of the naturalist tradition, he reinforces a tension between the free will of the individual and the daunting hand of fate."--Jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-292) and index

King, his world, and its character -- Interpreter of the postmodern condition -- King's brand of horror -- pt. 1. The gothic in King's works -- Abnormal and repressed sexuality (the Vampire) -- Hubris and death (Frankenstein's Monster) -- The gothic double (the Werewolf) -- The gothic melodrama (the Ghost) -- pt. 2. Myths and fairy tales in King's works -- The hero as a generic hybrid (Roland the Gunslinger) -- The antihero as a generic hybrid (Randall Flagg) -- Adapted and revised myths and fairy tales -- Mythical and fairy-tale themes -- pt. 3. Literary naturalism in King's works -- Free will and responsibility -- Genetic and sociological determinism -- Cosmological determinism and fate -- Metafictional determinism -- Conclusion -- Appendix : A note on previous criticism

Print version record

Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library

Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002

digitized 2010

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